Every child has the right to live safely at home

Op-Ed by Her Excellency Mrs. Luisa Ragher, Ambassador of the European Union to the Kingdom of Thailand, Her Excellency Ms. Ping Kitnikone, Ambassador of Canada to the Kingdom of Thailand, and Mr. Viktor Semenov, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Thailand.

In times of conflict, and in times of peace, the rights of children must remain among any nation's foremost responsibilities. Regardless of nationality, politics, or geography, every child has the same fundamental rights: to safety, to family, to education, and to a future free from fear. When children become victims of war, protecting them is not only a national responsibility, but also a shared duty of the entire international community.

The unlawful deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children did not begin with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. This practice began years earlier, following the illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. By 2015, there was evidence of Ukrainian children being taken from non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine and deported across borders or transferred deeper into Russian-controlled areas.

This unlawful and inhumane practice has grown into a large-scale and systematic violation of the rights of Ukrainian children. Today, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has officially confirmed more than 20,000 cases of deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia or temporarily Russian-controlled territory. For these children, the disruption has meant not only displacement, but separation from family, loss of community, and an attack on their identity, language, and connection to home. Their situation reminds us that protecting children in conflict is not an abstract principle, it is a human responsibility that requires sustained international cooperation.

Ukrainian authorities and civil society organisations working on these cases face enormous challenges in tracing where children have been taken. Russia has not provided comprehensive information about the number of deported or transferred children or their locations, making identifying and ultimately returning those children extremely difficult. Even when children are located, bringing them home can be a long and complex process.

This is why international cooperation is essential. No country facing such a challenge could address it alone. And no child should have to wait for the world to act.

This is the purpose behind the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, launched by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in 2023, and the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, launched by Ukraine and Canada in February 2024. Bring Kids Back UA provides the national framework for Ukraine's efforts to return children, support their recovery and reintegration, and pursue accountability. The International Coalition mobilizes international support for those objectives and helps translate political commitment into coordinated action.